Rihanna wins legal case against Topshop

Rihanna

25/09/2013 12:00:00 AM

High street giant ordered to pay £1m in legal costs

Rihanna has won a legal battle against Topshop with the judge in the case ordering Arcadia Group, the high street retailer’s parent company, to pay the singer’s legal costs of almost £1 million (AU$1.7m).

In July last year, Topshop was selling T-shirts featuring a less-than-flattering image of Rihanna, and while Topshop had a licence from the photographer, it didn’t have a licence from RiRi to use her image. The picture was taken while the star was in Northern Ireland filming the video for “We Found Love” and was very similar to a photo used on the sleeve of her Talk That Talk album.

The judge said that a substantial number of people would’ve been deceived into buying the tees under the impression that it’d been authorised by the style icon, saying that it marked "a loss of control over [Rihanna's] reputation in the fashion sphere." Rihanna was also awarded an injunction to prevent any future similar use of the image.

However, the judge found Rihanna’s legal bill of £919,000 (AU$1.6m) “startling” and ordered Topshop to pay a fifth of the cost while a full damages assessment was done.

Rihanna is in a well-publicised partnership with Topshop rival River Island, so the selling of the Topshop T-shirt could certainly be seen as damaging to her merchandising business.

Topshop said it was surprised and disappointed by the ruling and is now considering its options, including an appeal.